Author
Topic: Origin of growlers (Read 1627 times)

Even into the early 90s, I had relatives who worked at the AB brewery in St. Louis and they were able to bring home a case or two a day. I doubt they were allowed to drink on the job at a brewery that size, but when there's that much beer going around...

The AB distributor here in Des Moines allows every employee to take home what they can carry in one trip. without dropping any, each Friday. The run delivery drivers can carry a lot of cases in one trip when motivated. 8^)

My wife's grandfather worked at a brewery in Pittsburgh in the 20s-30s. They were apparently allowed to drink up to 2 cases a day.

A brewery in the 20's? Underground?

Nope, it was Iron City (or was that beer name?). I could be off on the date, of course. Seems like it must have been post-pro, huh?

Iron City Beer is still in Pittsburgh. I don't recommend drinking it lol. If you're ever in Pittsburgh pass on ICB and visit Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville. It's a pretty cool place. It's a Catholic Church turned brewery. The beer is also solid.

Yes, prohibition was from 1920-1933. It wasn't illegal to consume alcohol so they could drink a case a day, but the manufacture, sale, and transportation was illegal, so working in a brewery would be tough lol. Maybe the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933 created a type of alcohol hysteria. Therefore the permission to get tanked on the job? Maybe.

Yeah, I grew up in PA. Tried iron city once. It was something like, 6 bucks for a case of 24 bottles. It. Was. Terrible.

I grew up in West Virginia about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh and went to school at WVU. We talked a local Superette to start carrying 30 packs of IC Light. It was bad, but a broke college student couldn't pass up a $10 thirty pack o beer.

I've heard the same story from a curator at the NYC Tenement Museum. Its a pre-law building built in about 1863 and was a German Beer hall on the commercial floor for 20 years. They have restored it to its original condition and still have an original growler. The kids in the building would run down the steps to get the beer for the family and bring it back up. What's cool is that the growler and the wood casks are all original pieces from the 1870s.